Abyss (606)

[polomare]

^The impression that I got of those little "Is it you?" scenes is that she perhaps had the ability to communicate w/Jack telepathically. We know nothing of her race, so that might be a possible ability she has.
The disappearing in a whiff of smoke is what makes me think that. If Jack was remembering her, would he remember her poof away like that? Maybe yes, maybe no. But I took it to mean she was withdrawing from his mind when she realized it wasn't an appropriate time to distract him.
Just my impression.

[albatross]

I don't recall any whiffs of smoke? Doesn't she just disappear when the camera turns back to Jack? My impression is that it is a fragmented memory that comes to Jack when his brain is addled by sarcophagus/pain. We witness Kanan's memory gradually returning to Jack throughout the ep - my guess is that this is just a visual representation of how this happens. As for her race, is she not human?

[polomare]

Well, maybe whiff of smoke isn't the right way to describe it. But watch it again, you'll see what I mean. She swirls away.

[Samantha.Majka]

Hey,
I have to tell you that I love this epsiode so much. In this episode we can see the bond between them all, between Jack and his team and Jack's story is great ( the thing with symbiont ) .. I really enjoyed this episode when I saw it first.

[Elorendil]

One of my all-time favorite episodes of Stargate, for one reason: The introduction of the hottest bad guy to grace the screen on SG-1!

Seriously, though, this is an intense episode. Ba'al is awesomely evil, as always, and his methods of torture are pretty interesting. I guess he likes to be different - none of that pain stick thing for him, he prefers to be creative. I like how it shows that he is not quite as purely evil as some of the other system lords. When he uses the acid on Jack and Jack tells him the name of his Tok'ra symbiont, he stops torturing him and gives him the antidote. I think that some of the other system lords, like Sokar or Apophis, would have kept torturing him just for the fun of it. It shows that Ba'al is different from the other system lords we have seen previously and that he actually can be reasonable.

It was great to see Daniel return for the first time since ascending in this episode. I have to say, I was a little mad at him for not doing anything to help Jack, but obviously this boils back down to the silly rules that the Ascendeds have made up. Still, nice to see the ol' boy back and I think he did play in important part in helping Jack through all of the torture.

Oh, and did I mention that I love this episode for all the great shots of Ba'al?

[Noxbait]

What a good episode! Love the team problem solving on the homefront. Love Hammond being tough as nails against the Tok'Ra dude. Love Ba'al. Oy, he is so wicked and dastardly and downright mean. Gotta give him points for creativity. But the thing I love about Ba'al is that I think he may be the only System Lord who truly doesn't believe he is a god. I think he uses that and is happy to have minions follow him as if he's a god...but I really think he knows exactly what he is. Maybe he hasn't spent as much time in the sarc as all the rest, eh? And he's just so darn good looking! oK...gotta get off the Ba'al tangent...back to the episode.

such a sad episode. What an awful experience all around for Jack! Oy...talk about worst nightmares! first, he had ended up with a "snake in his head"...then that Tok'ra dragged him into Ba'al's clutches...then Daniel couldn't just break him out...and instead offered ascension. Oh my. Not a good ride at all.

Love the interactions between Jack and Daniel. The tension...the struggle...the frustration on both of their part. So awesome to see the depth and strength of their friendship. It is such a subtle but vital part of the show and their relationship and it is cool to see the interaction...and one of the rare times that they both actually really spit it out and say what they feel and mean rather than beating around the bush.

and the ending...awwww...makes me cry. One of the all time best!

[maneth]

Great ep! Loved seeing my favorite geek again, and boy does he look good without glasses... *sigh* Oh, and for a Goa'uld, Ba'al seems not too bad. A sight for sore eyes, certainly. I thought the cell with the tilted gravity field was awesome.

[ChulaksPrincess]

Poor Jack; the torture he suffered at the hands of Ba'al. I don't blame him for wanting to die. I'm sure it was hard on Daniel having to watch his friend go through all that suffering, and not being allowed to help him. I'm glad Jack was rescued.

[Nenyc]

Poor Jack; the torture he suffered at the hands of Ba'al. I don't blame him for wanting to die. I'm sure it was hard on Daniel having to watch his friend go through all that suffering, and not being allowed to help him. I'm glad Jack was rescued.

Completely agree.
But still, this is one of my top 5 episodes of SG-1.

[Evil Clown of Apocalypse]

I really enjoyed this episode,too.But there is something I didn't understand or maybe missed while watching it.
Did symbiot make Jack go back to Ba'al place or did Jack want to rescue the slave woman himself?

[dvdrts]

I really enjoyed this episode,too.But there is something I didn't understand or maybe missed while watching it.
Did symbiot make Jack go back to Ba'al place or did Jack want to rescue the slave woman himself?

the symbiont took over control of jack against his wil to go rescue the slave.

[SaberBlade]

I really enjoyed this episode,too.But there is something I didn't understand or maybe missed while watching it.
Did symbiot make Jack go back to Ba'al place or did Jack want to rescue the slave woman himself?

50/50. The Symbiont took control of Jack to rescue the slave, but it did so because of Jack's firm belief in never leaving man behind.

[Evil Clown of Apocalypse]

That's the part I was confused because they stated Jack's unwilligness to leave man behind but Jack seemed to have no recollection of his intention.
Thank you for the explanations

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

I often say that I don't rank the episodes of Stargate that I like, but this one is an exception. It is, without reservation, my favorite episode. I think the chemistry between Shanks and RDA is terrific, the acting of the two is superb and the episode itself has some tremendous dialog. Jack's shout "That's where you're wrong!" sends shivers down my spine.

Jack knows himself very well; his weaknesses and his strengths. It's interesting that even as an ascended being Daniel wants Jack to be better than he is; he doesn't want to see the things in Jack that Jack sees in himself.

I also like this episode because it's clear (to me, at least) that Baal doesn't know who Jack is. The name "O'Neill" means nothing to him. If it did, he (Baal) wouldn't focus so single-mindedly on Kanin. It works because Cliff Simon does a terrific job as Baal.

Philosophical question: if no rescue had been forthcoming, and Daniel truly believed Jack was about to break, would he have honored Jack's request to make his next death his last?

ETA: three things about the script bug me: i) Teal's illogical conclusion that because Jack couldn't've walked out of the tokra base by his sole volition, he must have been forced against his will; 2) when Jonas says "unfinished business, a task left undone"; c) when the Tokra points to three worlds and then says "if he returned to either of these worlds..."

Seaboe

[Kratos_Goauld_of_War]

I really enjoyed this episode,too.But there is something I didn't understand or maybe missed while watching it.
Did symbiot make Jack go back to Ba'al place or did Jack want to rescue the slave woman himself?

I always figured that Kanan was affected by Jack's "Leave no man behind" mantra. One if the main tenets of his being. I think this made Kanan feel guilty about leaving the woman behind and he acted on that.

That's how I see it. Although the point is made that Jack would never risk himself or Kanan on a mission that was purely personal and tactically suicidal.

This episode made me greatly dislike the Tok'ra for a good long time. (Well not Jacob/Selmak) because of how they handled the entire situation. Especially not having someone from SG-1 ( I would pick Teal'c) to stay with him until Jack was healed.